Advice on de-smoking an interior

Don M

Don M

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I started taking CHANTIX and I'm on week 2 of no cigarettes. One of my issues now, is that I can now smell the interior of my car (smells like an ashtray).

What is a good way to de-stink my interior without having to resort to shampooing or other "wet" types of cleaning seeing how it's January and a bit chilly out?
 
Dakota Odor Bomb Car Odor Eliminator Black Diamond

I've tried this (another scent) on a customer's car, and would call it 90% successful. Customer thought it was 100%, but he was still smoking, and I think his senses were a tad off.

Good luck, both with the odor and the quitting. I was a closet smoker for years, but that meant I would go days sometimes without a cigarette. And quitting was STILL the hardest thing I ever did (and believe me, at my size, cleaning interior rear windows ain't no picnic!).
 
Don, congrats!!! That is great news about stopping smoking!!! Good for you.
Now for the car... You will probably need to do somewhat of a full interior, carpet extraction, extract seats if they're cloth, and don't forget the matts.
Full wipe down of everything else with a good APC, I like McKee's... Maybe even tornador if you have one.

Once you've done a good round of house keeping, then I would suggest CarPro So2Pure, and a good layering of CarPro Fabrics. That should do the trick...

Again, best move of 2019 thus far! Keep it going.
 
On my 2010 Camaro I used So2Pure and it worked great! It doesn’t just cover up the odor with a strong odor. I was really impressed.
 
Don stay motivated!!! There really is nothing more beneficial for your health than quitting. You are doing the right thing!!! Keep it up!

ScottH
 
Definitely, congratulations. I’m right there with you. Jan. 9th was my quit date. I use the gum, it’s the only thing that works for me. Word of advice...no matter how long it’s been don’t ever think it will be ok to have just one. I quit for 6 months years ago, quit for 10 months last year. Same downfall every time!!
Think of all the product you’ll be able to buy saving that couple hundred bucks a month!! lol
 
Congratulations...I bought a car from my father in law who smokes like a chimney the only thing that worked for me was changing the cabin filter and closing the car up for two days with 2 solo cups full of white vinegar in the cup holders somehow it draws the smell out....sounds crazy but it worked for me....good luck on both of your missions

Sent from my SM-T330NU using Autogeekonline mobile app
 
Good for you!!

What I do when smoky cars come in is clean everything, seats, head rests, headliner, carpets, plastics, EVERYTHING.Then change your cabin air filter, theres tricks on YouTube about cleaning the vents too, Then I use the Dakota No-Smoke. I havent used it as a bomb (I think you can though) but I do douse the headliner and all fabrics with it then close the car up overnight. That stuff sprays pretty dry so you dont have to worry about saturation so much. Its a very strong smelling spray so dont stay in the car for long!!! LOL
 
Know anybody with an ozone machine? I use one on my hunting clothes, and once in a while in my son's room because his diaper pail gets pretty rancid. Run it for 30 minutes, let the car sit for at least that long so the O3 can do its thing.
 
DaveT435 said:
Definitely, congratulations. I’m right there with you. Jan. 9th was my quit date. I use the gum, it’s the only thing that works for me. Word of advice...no matter how long it’s been don’t ever think it will be ok to have just one. I quit for 6 months years ago, quit for 10 months last year. Same downfall every time!!
Think of all the product you’ll be able to buy saving that couple hundred bucks a month!! lol
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I keep telling myself that the car is staying cleaner and the windows aren't crudding up as fast (or bad).
 
Here's the good news on the smoking - If you've made it 15 days now, you can make it 16. Once you've made it 16, 17 days is a bit easier. Pretty soon, once you get to 7 months, 8 months is a piece of cake.

This is just my opinion, but were it me, I'd start to develop a plan to wean off the Chantix, too. I don't know anyone who used Chantix, but I've had a few people attempt to quit by using vaping. So far, none have kicked that habit. I'm no expert, but I know I would rather get both over and done with sooner rather than later. But as I mentioned, I wish you well, fellow NE Ohioan!
 
Slightly related... wear gloves while doing the interior. The buildup of smoke residue can have a fairly significant dose of nicotine in it. You can transfer a decent amount through wet skin pretty quickly. I found out after washing down a old drafting table from an architectural firm, back before smoking was banished to the outdoors. Had a buzz the rest of the day. And a whopping headache the next.


Best of luck!
M.
 
Have you tried an ionized air filter?
They work great at removing cigarette smell.
 
Don M said:
Never heard of those.
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They look like a regular air purifier but have the added benefit of ionizing the air. If you want to get cig smell out of your car or house these purifiers are the way to go. Something like this. Afterwards, run a bunch of these thru your air vent system. Pretty sure you can get these at auto geek
fb853dbc8c78d214665542d4aa0b9d3c.jpg

Airthereal WA600 Ozone Generator Air Purifier, 600mg/h Ozone Machine Home Air Ionizer for Cars, Rooms, Smoke and Pets Amazon.com: Airthereal WA600 Ozone Generator Air Purifier, 600mg/h Ozone Machine Home Air Ionizer for Cars, Rooms, Smoke and Pets: Home & Kitchen
 
Congrats on taking this step!! I can not relate on smoking as fortunately I never started (about the only time I ever did anything smart). I can however offer support as does this entire community. Good Luck!

Lots of people have offered solutions all of which will work effectively. Another favorite of mine is a product called "Ozium" and it also eliminates, not just masks odors. As someone else said, completely clean interior, replace cabin air filter, and then use a product of choice. Wearing gloves is a great idea and I didn't think of that one.
 
congrats on quitting!! I still haven't done it but the girlfriend has and it's making it more inconvenient for me to continue. Too bad you're not closer to me in S.Central Pa, I have a monster of an ozone machine that works well after cleaning the interior. 30,000 Mg hr of ozone gives quite the shock treatment to eliminate odors. cl02 gas treatments work well too depending on the size of the treatment kit. I used a 100gm kit in a moldy van we bought after a good extraction with sporocide and it killed the mold odor. If it kills mold odor, it'll definitely eliminate cigarette smoke odor. Good luck!!
 
pilotpip said:
Know anybody with an ozone machine? I use one on my hunting clothes, and once in a while in my son's room because his diaper pail gets pretty rancid. Run it for 30 minutes, let the car sit for at least that long so the O3 can do its thing.
Click to expand...

Ozone can do the trick...My best buddy is a real estate agent and carries an ozone machine to stick in the rooms of smoker's houses before they do an open house! It works quite well...if you can stop by a decent named hotel...they have them and use them regularly on rooms where people smoke and not supposed to.
 
Nextzett Plastic Vinyl Deep Cleaner Plastik Reiniger is designed to penetrate and remove bitumen and nicotine stains from smoking.
 
tuscarora dave said:
congrats on quitting!! I still haven't done it but the girlfriend has and it's making it more inconvenient for me to continue. Too bad you're not closer to me in S.Central Pa, I have a monster of an ozone machine that works well after cleaning the interior. 30,000 Mg hr of ozone gives quite the shock treatment to eliminate odors. cl02 gas treatments work well too depending on the size of the treatment kit. I used a 100gm kit in a moldy van we bought after a good extraction with sporocide and it killed the mold odor. If it kills mold odor, it'll definitely eliminate cigarette smoke odor. Good luck!!
Click to expand...


I just looked it up, it's a 5 hour drive one way. I'd be willing, but I think the wife would frown on it :argue:
 
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